MILFORD -- He thought about another cable company but wasn't sure it was a fit then. He's got a family and isn't looking to go out to a bar on weekends.

Tom Intelisano of Milford wants to watch the NFL playoffs at home on TV. But with Cablevision and WFSB (Ch. 3) in negotiations that have CBS off his cable, he's out of luck for AFC games.

"I watch a lot of football. It's most definitely frustrating," said Intelisano, who said he's been a Cablevision subscriber for over 20 years.

"Every day I'm on (Cablevision's) Facebook page: `what's going to happen?' With the championship game coming, I'm really annoyed."

The New England Patriots and Denver Broncos meet Sunday at 3 p.m. for the AFC title. Cablevision subscribers in Milford, Orange and Woodbridge may have to find another way to watch it.

"Football, if you're an average working guy, you sit down to watch the two biggest games of the year," Intelisano said, "and you've got to scramble to watch one."

At issue, no shock, is money, in an agreement to let Cablevision retransmit the WFSB signal.

Fairfield County belongs to New York's television market, so WCBS-TV (Ch. 2) is technically the local affiliate. Cablevision says it doesn't want Fairfield County subscribers to pay "two times for the same thing," as its website puts it. WFSB's site says it wants fair market value for its own local programming.

Without an agreement, Cablevision says, it can't air CBS programming in New Haven or Litchfield counties, where WFSB is the local affiliate, and can't air WFSB in Fairfield County.

Cablevision announced Wednesday that it served WFSB's parent company, Meredith Corp., with a lawsuit alleging violations of the Connecticut Unfair Trade Practices Act that have cost Cablevision customers.

The dispute has cost other businesses, too.

"We've had a couple of people leave because the game's not on," said Shannon Foley, a manager at Chili's on the Boston Post Road, a Cablevision subscriber.

Some of those people may have gone down the road, where other bars have other providers.